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Hospitals treating hundreds in
post-poll violence
NAIROBI, 9 January 2008 (IRIN) - Hospitals in areas affected by
the post-election violence that rocked Kenya in the last week of
December and early January have been treating hundreds of patients
for injuries inflicted with machetes, arrows and spears, as well
as gunshot wounds and burns.
Of the 275 people with violence-related injuries treated at
Kenyatta National Hospital, the main government-run referral
health facility in Nairobi, 121 had multiple cuts, while the rest
suffered gunshot wounds or had been attacked with blunt objects
that caused fractures. Others had been shot with arrows, according
to Peter Kamau of the hospital's disaster management section.
Most casualties with gunshot wounds were reported in the western
city of Kisumu, where rioting erupted on 30 December 2007,
immediately after the Electoral Commission declared incumbent
President Mwai Kibaki the winner of the election held on 27
December. Kibaki's main challenger, Raila Odinga, has rejected the
result and claimed he won the election, alleging it was rigged in
Kibaki's favour.
The New Nyanza Provincial Hospital in Kisumu has treated 146
patients for gunshot wounds, mostly in the abdomen and limbs,
since 29 December, said Juliana Otieno, the medical superintendent.
Asked by IRIN whether she believed that police had shot the
victims, she said: "Who else has guns in Kenya?" She
said the hospital had by 8 January recorded 48 deaths related to
the violence. Some 67 patients shot during the disturbances were
still in the hospital, including a man shot in the head on the
night of 8 January.
The main public hospital in the western town of Eldoret, one of
the worst-affected areas, reported receiving patients slashed with
machetes, gunshot and arrow wounds, while others had fractures.
About eight patients with burns were admitted to the hospital,
believed to be survivors of the torching of a church in Eldoret on
1 January. At least 30 people were burnt alive.
"Initially we were overwhelmed by the casualties, because some of
our staff were unable to come to work, but we have managed to cope
with the situation with help from the Kenya Red Cross Society, MSF
[Médecins Sans Frontières] and ICRC [International Committee of
the Red Cross], said John Simiyu, head of the emergency section in
the Moi Referral Hospital in Eldoret.
The hospital had by 8 January admitted 327 cases of
violence-related injuries, including about 100 patients needing
surgery.
Ethnic groups perceived to have supported Kibaki have borne the
brunt of the violence, mostly in areas of Nyanza and Rift Valley
provinces where they live as minorities. Residents of those areas
voted overwhelmingly for Odinga.
Kenyan authorities have reported that at least 486 people lost
their lives in the violence. United Nations agencies have
estimated that about 250,000 people have been displaced because of
the unrest.
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